Through The Looking Glass Ruins Novels & Stories

I mutter. The mirror pulses a violent red. The heating elements are failing, the glass spider-webbing under the thermal stress. C-O-M-P-R-O-M-I-S-E-D. One final sentence scrolls across the bottom before the glass shatters into a thousand glittery shards. O-N-E G-U-A-R-D I-S N-O-T H-I-S. I drop to a crouch as the glass rains down. I don't feel the shallow cuts on my shoulders. I'm staring at the empty frame.

I brushed my hair one last time, adjusting its waves and taking a final look at my appearance. Today was a dream come true for me and I wasn’t about to mess it up. “We have to leave now if we want to make it before the traffic gets crazy.” “I'm done. I'm done,” I said, putting on my correctional eyeglasses and grabbing my handbag and phone from the vanity before heading towards the exit door. “Oh my, and don't you look so chic in those pants,” Maya half whistled as I walked past her. “Maya!” With the way she acted sometimes, you’d think she was into girls… but knowing Maya, that wasn’t even close.

The ruins stretched for miles behind him. Collapsed towers, fractured streets, abandoned bridges, and empty valleys blurred together as Husen continued moving until even the scent of battle disappeared into the night. Only then did he stop. He stood before what looked like nothing more than a weathered cliff face, overgrown with vines and hidden behind centuries of moss and broken stone. To anyone passing by, it was simply another forgotten part of the wasteland. Husen reached toward the rock, pushing aside a curtain of hanging vines. A narrow passage revealed itself. Without looking back, he disappeared inside. The tunnel twisted deeper into the mountain before opening into a surprisingly s

The ruins were dead quiet. Too quiet. My boots crunched on broken glass as I moved through what used to be a strip of shops, rifle steady, eyes scanning every shadow. Command swore one of them had been seen here. A monster. Another purple fucker that slipped through the Rift and made our world hell.

Unwelcoming. The world outside disappeared the moment we stepped in. The ruins swallowed the sound of the wind, the moonlight, even the familiar scents of the forest. It was like entering a separate realm entirely. Kael whispered, “Stay alert.” As if anyone here wasn’t. We walked deeper into the ruins until we reached a hallway leading to a large chamber. The door was cracked, hanging loosely, and when I pushed it open, my breath caught. Mirrors. Everywhere. Covering every wall from top to bottom, stretching so high I couldn’t even see the ends. Some were cracked, others dusty, others glowing faintly with a silver mist.

Magical residue that wouldn’t quite dissipate. “What’re you doing?” I asked, pausing a few steps closer than I should have. Close enough to see, but not close enough to touch. He looked past me, over to the stained glass window that was cracked from heat damage, panels of red and gold glass that painted the floor in shattered lines of sunlight. “Learning,” he said. I scowled. “From a hallway that’s already burned?” He shrugged. “Places like this hide their real shit in the places no one wants to look.”

Her heartbeats drumming in her ears. For very long time, she just sat there, consoling herself whilst trying her best to dissipate the flashbacks of that dreadful night, from her eyes. Sniffling, she immediately grabbed the glass of water from the night stand before gulping it down in one go, her now slightly damped eyes looking out of the window in meantime. The sky was dark, hiding all the sins of sinners in it's abyss. When she felt the trauma clearing from her eyes, Hazel looked up at the clock.

Seeing that Grandpa and Grandma looked sleepy, I took the hint and got ready to go, but instead of heading home, I hid nearby. Sure enough, less than twenty minutes later, a stretch Lincoln pulled up. Surrounded by attendants, Grandpa and Grandma got in and didn’t even glance back. I exhaled, slipped on a mask, and walked up to the building. Cleaning ladies were sweeping up. One of them muttered, “They only show up here once a year, cook a meal, and then leave.” “Yeah,” another added. “They pay a ton to have this place cleaned up for just a few hours. Word is, they’ve got a mansion in Southbridge. This is all just for show.”